1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to knife accessories, particularly to a removably attachable accessory that is used in conjunction with a knife or other utensil to help make food preparation faster, easier, safer, and cleaner.
2. Prior Art
During the process of cutting food into smaller pieces with a kitchen knife and cutting surface such as a cutting board, several problems arise. Firstly, cut-up food often needs to be moved around and off of the board into a container, such as a cooking pot, storage container, or dish. Usually a kitchen knife is used to move the food, however, as a pile of cut-up food is pushed with a knife blade, pieces of food dissipate along the blade instead of staying in a complete pile, because a knife's blade is necessarily straight. This requires multiple scraping movements in multiple directions to effectively move the cut-up food. Additionally, some of the cut-up food ends up where it is not desired, for example on a table, countertop, stove, and floor.
A second problem is removing food remnants stuck to a knife blade after cutting. People often remove the food remnants by running their fingers along the sides of the blade, which is dangerous, and deposits food particles, oils, and residue onto the user's fingers, causing them to smell like the food they are cutting, and may also be detrimental to their health, for example with bacteria from raw meats or irritating oils from onions or peppers, which may cause infection or painful irritation.
Lastly, when a knife is placed down on a surface after cutting food, residue may be transferred from the blade to the surface, requiring extra cleanup. Because the knife is resting on its side, it may be difficult to pick up quickly for subsequent use, since it requires certain dexterity to pick up a knife that is resting on its side. This adds unnecessary time and effort to the food preparation process.
Several products address these problems. Some are scoopers for carrying cut-up food to a container, for example U.S. Pat. No. 6,733,056, to Daniele. They require the user to scrape food into the device with their hand or knife, and often require scraping the inside of the scoop to remove food remnants stuck inside it.
Japanese patent publication number JP2006130278 to Shunichi discloses a squeegee attached to a knife blade, whereby “it becomes possible to rub off from a cutting board more quickly to accuracy” into a bowl. The Shunichi device has several flaws that make it ineffective for the task it aims to perform. For example, it doesn't allow the user to cut or move food with a knife at a natural angle, since a right-handed user will often hold a knife and slice food at an acute angle on the right hand side, between the knife blade and the cutting surface (it is similar for left-handed users on the left-hand side of a knife blade). This is shown in FIG. 1 which shows a back view of a knife 50 cutting through a vegetable such as a cucumber 64, illustrating how a right-handed person would likely cut food with a knife at an acute cutting angle 68 between the right side of knife blade 54 and a cutting surface 62. FIG. 2A illustrates a back view of FIG. 5, a magnetic version, of the Shunichi device 100 attached to knife 50 creating a right-angle between cutting surface 62 and knife blade 54, thereby preventing a user from cutting at a natural, acute angle.
Additionally, there is nothing in the Shunichi invention to prevent it from traveling upwards on a knife blade during cutting and scraping, therefore it will likely be pushed upwards during use, creating a gap 104 between the device and the cutting surface 62, as shown in FIG. 2B, therefore missing some food during corralling. The upward pressure may also cause the device to be pulled off the knife entirely. An external magnet may not be dishwasher safe, and food particles may get caught between the magnet and the device, creating an unsanitary condition, and the magnet may eventually fall off or get pulled off the device. Further, the front bottom corner of the squeegee may catch on the board, which will at best create difficult movement for the user, at worst may cause the device to be pulled off the knife entirely. Additionally, the device won't stay flush with the bottom edge of the knife. The Shunichi application does not mention scraping food off a knife by sliding the device along a blade, nor is it suited for such use, from a practical and safety perspective. Finally, the Shunichi application does not mention using the device to hold a knife upright, nor would it work effectively in that manner.
Some devices address the problem of cut-up food sticking to a knife blade. Santoku knives have scalloped release patterns on their blades to aid the release of thin slices of food sticking to the blade after slicing. Japanese patent publication JP2002000970 to Isao teaches a guide member that is magnetically attached to the blade of a kitchen knife. This device, however, may get in the way of slicing certain foods, and may be inadvertently pushed upwards on the blade during use. The application does not mention sliding the device along a blade to remove food remnants, nor does it provide a safe and efficient means to do so.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,491,623 to Pitchur shows a device used to keep a knife blade off a surface. It would, however, adversely affect cutting food with the knife while it was attached. While the prior art patents provide for some functions related to the problems associated with food preparation, none of these patents take all of the criteria into consideration and provide a single accessory which will provide a useful and convenient accessory for knives.